Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Tim. 4:12

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Feeling Bad

Tomorrow our church youth group leaves for a fun trip that my son Christian has to skip. He was okay with the plan until he discovered that all of his friends had signed up. On top of that it’s the last youth group trip that he can participate in before officially starting college. He isn’t whining and complaining about it but I can tell he’s bummed out.

We had good reasons for encouraging him to stay home.Reason #1: Time – Between a campout earlier this summer, a mandatory two-day orientation for college and our family vacation, asking for another four days off from his summer job would be pushing it.Reason #2: Money – We planned for him to save as much of his summer paychecks as possible so he won’t have to work during his first semester of college. The trip would take a big chunk from his account and we couldn’t afford to help him out with it.

Both reasons were legitimate and Christian agreed. He does have next week’s vacation to look forward to. But I still hate seeing him left out. At the same time I know that he is learning some valuable lessons.

1) We can’t do everything. Once in awhile we have to pick and choose our fun events, opportunities, and activities.2) Sacrifice is part of life. Saving for his first semester’s worth of meals, bus fare, and unexpected expenses means saying no to things that will suck away those funds. It’s good practice for when he is no longer living at home.3) Responsibility – At some point we all need to be responsible and practical by passing on some fun stuff.

I’m praying that he’ll see some benefits in staying home.

Chances are you have been in Christian’s place. How did you respond? What did God teach you through the disappointment and frustration.

1 comment:

I've learned that what I want isn't necessarily what is meant to happen. God takes stuff and uses it, especially when it's not working out quite the way that we wanted it to.

I guess the biggest lesson that I've had to learn is to trade the good for the best. There's a lot of good stuff out there that we can do, but not all of it is best for us. We have to learn the concept of discernment and choosing the best.

We show maturity when we give up some things that we would like to do in favor of what is needful.

I had to give up a missions trip this summer...and boy, oh boy was that HARD! But now, looking back, I see a lot of the reasons why...God needed me back at home. :)